Monday, September 30, 2013

Why You Should Purchase A Pool Safety Cover This Fall

Families buy pools to cool off in the summer and have fun in the sun. Unfortunately, every year in the United States the family pool becomes the source of tragedy for many families. Drowning deaths are the number one cause of fatalities for children under five years of age in the United States. Even with earnest supervision, it only takes as little as two inches of water and a few seconds for a small child to drown. With such a slim margin for error, it's vital to take the right precautions to reduce the risk of a child drowning.

The security of a safety cover
A pool safety cover is a tight fitting cover that is attached by secured anchors. These are sturdy and can be purchased for any size of pool. Typically, there are two main types of safety covers, mesh and solid. A mesh cover is made of tightly bound fibers but still allows small particulates and water to flow through it. A solid cover will not allow anything to pass through, but will likely come at a higher expenditure. Learn more about the differences at http://www.swimtownpools.com/pool-safety-covers-s/293.htm.

A properly fitted safety cover can support the weight of a child (though under no circumstances should you test this) should they wander out of sight for a few moments. This line of defense can provide parents with peace of mind once the pool is closed up for the season. Further, beyond your own children, the safety cover also provides that last line of defense against others' children mistakenly wandering into your pool, or even pets.

What else can you do?
Obviously you can't leave a pool safety cover in place 24 hours a day 365 days a year so it's important to take some additional steps to help keep children safe around the pool. Here's a collection of suggestions:
Add a pool fence. When the pool's in season, a secure fence with a child proof latch will ensure that children don't have access to the pool without an adult there for supervision. You can even purchase alarms for the gate as children get older to notify anyone in the household if someone is entering your pool area.

Have safety equipment handy. Accidents do happen, and when they do its best to be prepared. While safety equipment won't make your pool completely safe from drowning incidents, have a safety hook near the pool (and learning how to use it properly) is one more tool to help keep your little swimmers safe.

The most important safety element of all, however is proper supervision. If you hear the tragic stories of parents you'd be surprised how little inattentiveness it took for an accident to happen. Something as seemingly harmless as being distracted by the telephone can offer up enough time for a child to put themselves in a potentially life threatening situation. So avoid potential distractions by leaving them in the house so you can focus on keeping an eye on your child.

There's no one way to fool proof your pool against drowning, but these steps will greatly reduce your risk of it happening. It may take a bit of time and money to add some of these safe guards, but in the long haul what's more valuable than the safety of your family?